A belt has been sold for a number of years under the trademark "WINE BELT" in which the belt buckle is made from a two-spring cork puller of the type sold under the trademark "AH-SO." The cork puller is mounted in a leather pocket on the back of the belt, and an enlarged pin projects from the cork puller for interconnecting the ends of the belt. The belt is "buckled" by inserting the free end of the belt through the handle loop of the cork puller and inserting the pin through one of several holes punched in the free end of the belt. A leather belt loop is provided encircling the belt and slidable along the belt's length.
This belt had several serious disadvantages. In the first place, it was necessary to make the belt in only wide sizes, because of the need to stitch the pocket onto the back of the belt along the sides of the cork puller. Additionally, the belt loops were apt to be lost because they could slip off of the free end of the belt.
An improved form of belt which solved these problems was made and destributed to a limited extent. In the improved belt, the sleeve part of the cork puller was attached the the belt by rivets, and the belt loop was permanently attached to the belt by mounting it between the two rivets captured between the sleeve and the belt.
While the improved belt solved some of the problems of the origional design, both designs suffered from the fact that they required special fabrication at both ends of the belt with dedicated inventory for each size and color of belt.